Sunday, September 21, 2014

Fall is definitely in the air. After a very hot start to the school year, temperatures are finally hinting at the change of season. Eric and I took advantage of a free weekend with cooler temps to do our first try at camping with our motorcycle! The man we bought our original bike from let us borrow his motorcycle camper, and it was fabulous. It was so much better than camping in our tent, and we really enjoyed traveling to the campground on our motorcycle.

Now, on to the menu. Remember, now that it is just the two of us, my menus are much less detailed. We eat a lot of leftovers so that we don't waste food, plus it saves us time on busy nights. Usually one meal will last a couple of days. So, instead of listing my meals by day like I've done in the past, I'm just sharing what I will be cooking during the week and labeling it by the type of entree. Hopefully it is still helpful in providing you ideas for meals to make for your family.

Here's this week's menu. Enjoy and have a great week! Be sure to follow me on Facebook to get fast updates from the blog.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Those of you who regularly read my blog are probably thinking I've fallen of the face of the earth. Not so! I still plan my meals for the week and cook for my family (now just me and my hubby). But, since my son went to college, my schedule and meal planning have changed a little. Just over a year ago, my husband and I got a motorcycle, and it has kind of changed our world. We are just slightly obsessed with riding, and go out every chance we get. We still love to hike and such, but we just take the motorcycle now as our way of travel. So, my weekends haven't left me with as much time to blog.

But, I couldn't sleep tonight, so I thought I'd post my menu for this week. Most things are new recipes, so I'll post photos later once I've made the recipe. I'm not going to specify days, as we eat leftovers a lot since there are just two of us at home now, but here are my meals for the week. Enjoy and have a great week! Be sure to follow me on Facebook to get fast updates from the blog.

In
a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon,
nutmeg and ginger for 20 seconds, set aside. In a separate large mixing
bowl, whisk together granulated sugar and brown sugar until well
combined (break up clumps of brown sugar with fingertips as necessary.
You don't want any clumps). Add canola oil, eggs, pumpkin puree and
vanilla extract and using an electric hand mixer, blend until mixture is
well blended. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix with
electric mixer until well combined. Spoon or pipe batter into doughnut
wells, filling each about 3/4 full (a scant 1/4 cup in each).

Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center
comes out clean, 13 - 16 minutes. Cool doughnuts slightly. Meanwhile in a
large resealable bag shake together 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/4 tsp
cinnamon until well combined. Add one warm doughnut to bag at a time,
seal and shake with sugar mixture to coat. Place on wire rack to cool
completely. Store in an airtight container.

In
a large pot, melt 1 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Add chicken
broth, potatoes, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf and season with salt and
pepper to taste (slightly under-season with salt as the ham and bacon
will add more saltiness to soup). Bring mixture to a boil over
medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium, cover with lid and allow
to cook until potatoes are very tender, about 17 - 20 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Reduce to warm heat, stir in ham and corn.

Preheat
oven to 400 degrees. Place first 5 ingredients in a mound on a large
baking sheet. In a small bowl, stir together olive oil, canola oil,
cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder and salt and pepper (I used 3/4 tsp salt and
1/4 tsp pepper, but you can adjust to your taste). Drizzle oil mixture
over veggies on baking dish, then toss to evenly coat and spread veggies
into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, then remove from
oven and toss (then spread into an even layer again) and return to oven
to roast 10 minutes longer (or until they've reached desired doneness).

Near
the end of veggies roasting, toss warmed black beans with salt and
remaining 1/2 tsp chili powder. Once veggies are done roasting, add
black beans along with chopped cilantro and drizzle lime juice over top
and toss. Serve warm over tortillas. Top with Queso Fresco, sour cream and hot sauce if desired.

*Dice
all the veggies about the same size so they all cook evenly, except for
the tomatoes (and corn obviously). Dice the tomatoes bigger because
they shrink the most since they have a higher water content than the
others.

Preheat
oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking
powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg for 20 seconds, set
aside. In a separate bowl, toss shredded apple with lemon juice, set
aside.
In
the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,
blend together butter and brown sugar until creamy (if not using a
paddle attachment that constantly scrapes bowl, then occasionally stop
mixer throughout entire mixing process and scrape down sides and bottom
of bowl). Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Mix in half of the flour
mixture, then with mixer running on low speed, slowly add in apple juice
concentrate, then mix in remaining half of the flour mixture. Fold in
shredded apples (and the juices with apples). Scoop dough out with a
medium 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop and drop onto Silpat or parchment paper
lined baking sheets spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated
oven 11 - 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer
to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

In
a small saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, apple juice concentrate
and salt. Heat mixture over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly,
until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar
until smooth. Spread over cookies (I recommend a fairly thin layer as
this frosting is very sweet), and immediately sprinkle with pecans and
Maldon (if using. The frosting will set quickly so don't wait to add
toppings). As frosting cools it will thicken, so add 1/2 tsp warm water
at a time to thin as needed for a more spreadable consistency. Store
cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Directions:
Boil
pasta according to directions listed on package adding broccoli during
last 3 - 4 minutes of boiling, drain well (reserve 1/4 cup pasta water,
just in case you want to thin pasta sauce).

Meanwhile,
in a pot melt butter over medium heat then stir in flour. Cook mixture
stirring constantly for 1 minute. While whisking vigorously, slowly add
in milk, then season with onion powder, garlic powder and salt and
pepper to taste. Increase heat to medium-high, cook mixture, stirring
constantly until it boils and thickens. Remove from heat, allow to cool
for 1 minute then add in cheddar and Parmesan cheese and stir until
melted. Add drained pasta and broccoli and chicken and toss to evenly
coat. As it sits it will thicken, you can thin it with a few tbsp pasta
water if desired.

Cook the pasta according to the package
directions. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain. Return the
pasta to the pot and stir in the butter, lemon zest, and Parmesan.
Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk the egg and water in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine the Panko, Parmesan, dried basil, salt and pepper.

Place
the flour in a plastic food storage bag. Add the fish (or chicken) filets, seal the
bag, and toss to coat the filets in the flour. (The original chicken recipe does not call for the flouring step, though I think it would help with the coating.) Working with one piece at
a time, dip a filet into the egg, then into the bread crumb mixture,
pressing to adhere the crumbs. Repeat with all the filets.

Heat
the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the lemon juice
and garlic. Add the fish filets and cook for 3-4 minutes per side,
until golden brown. Distribute the mozzarella between the 4 filets and
cover the pan briefly so the cheese melts. Remove to filets to a plate.

Add
the pasta to the pan and toss to coat, thinning the sauce with some of
the pasta cooking water. Serve some pasta in a shallow bowl topped with a
piece of fish per person.

Note: When making the chicken version, after browning the chicken on both sides for 3-4 minutes, you are supposed to remove them to a plate. Then, spoon the mixed pasta into the skillet. Place the cooked chicken
breasts on top. Place lemon slices on top, if using, Sprinkle with
mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle top with salt and pepper. Bake 15 minutes,
or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken on top of the
lemon noodles.

I think if you are using thin chicken breasts, you can probably skip the baking step. I'm afraid baking would dry out the pasta.

LinkWithin

Search What's for Dinner

Subscribe To What's for Dinner

Follow What's for Dinner on Facebook

Follow by Email

About Me

This blog is dedicated to helping those who struggle to answer the question, “What’s for dinner?” As a busy wife, mom, and elementary librarian, deciding what to make for dinner is one of my daily challenges. Menu planning has been my saving grace, so I hope that by sharing my recipes and menus, I can help others on their journey to meal-planning bliss!